Rand Paul ties release of 9/11 Docs to Defense Bill

Sen. Rand Paul wants to use a defense policy bill to force the Senate to wade into a larger fight over declassifying 28 pages from a 2002 review of the 9/11 terror attacks.

The Kentucky Republican has filed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to force the public release of the 28 secret pages, which could shed light on connections between the Saudi government and al Qaeda.

Paul's amendment comes weeks after the Senate unanimously approved legislation allowing the families of 9/11 victims to sue countries that supported perpetrators of the terrorist attacks.

While the White House is threatening to veto the bill, senators largely brushed aside any concern that the legislation could antagonize the U.S.-Saudi relationship. Continued

Last week’s unanimous passage of a Senate bill making it easier for 9/11 families to sue Saudi Arabia and other foreign terror sponsors was widely heralded as a major victory.

It’s more of a cruel hoax.

It turns out that just before the vote, Sen. Charles Schumer and other proponents of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act stuffed an amendment into the final draft allowing the attorney general and secretary of state to stop any litigation against the Saudis in its tracks.

Yes, JASTA would remove the statutory restrictions that have prevented 9/11 families from taking the Saudi kingdom to court. But Schumer helped craft an entirely new section to the original bill, giving the Justice and State departments the power to stay court action indefinitely. All they have to do is inform the judge hearing the case that the US government has engaged with ­Riyadh in diplomatic talks to resolve the issue.

“Look, if the Saudis did not participate in this terrorism, they have nothing to fear about going to court,” Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), expected to be the next Senate Democratic leader, said earlier this month. “If they did, they should be held accountable.”

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